Wait, Wait, Wait
by Kelly123
Summary: Futurefic. Ellie takes the high road at the airport...almost. ONESHOT


_Hey GUYS! How is everyone? Good? LOVELY! Well it's fall, and that in itself makes me super happy, so I am going to post a fic. It's not too great, but I haven't posted in a minute and I felt the need to do so. Because I am happy and reviews make me even happier! Geez, I sound corny...Well, I got this idea after watching a commercial for one of those on-line discount travel lines..umm, that's about it. _

_Making my money from kissing ass at a restaurant, not from writing this. _

_Oh, and there is some slight Manny-bashing. Not really bashing, but I don't paint her in the most flattering light. That's all._

_Double oh, and the title is from the amazing band the format, and their song...well, wait, wait, wait...duh._

"these roads are paved with plans we've made,  
and your headboards never felt so safe,

Well, they'll reach our graves,  
where your friends and I

will kill the lights and hide,  
oh what a nice surprise"

-The Format, Wait, Wait, Wait.

* * *

"**Attention all airport guests. Flight 539 to Toronto has been delayed due to hazardous weather conditions until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience."**

Immediately, the airport waiting area erupted with the angry lamentations of a horde of harried travelers. They groaned melodramatically through twisted faces of frustration, slammed their fists forcefully against the arms of their chairs, and buried their tired heads in their hands. Amongst them, a quirky redhead rolled her eyes in exhausted amusement. Sure, waiting all night in an airport wasn't exactly her first choice for how to spend the evening either, but would they seriously rather risk their lives traveling thousands of feet above the ground in the middle of a thunderstorm than wait a few hours to let the weather clear up?

Then again, throughout the course of her twenty-six years, life had taught Ellie nothing if not that mankind as a whole contained precisely four ounces of patience. One and three-fourths of which she happened to be in possession of herself, and right about now, that was wearing rather thin as well.

I mean, yes, she loved traveling and all, but right about now she would much rather be at home and curled up in bed than on route to spend the week at her parent's house. Her relationship with her parents had improved greatly since she left for college, and she was sure that this only proved the fact that they operated best as a family from a distance. However, Mom was being uncharacteristically "motherly" right now, and in her current condition she was starting to understand why, so when the plane ticket came in the mail she couldn't turn it down. Plus, she hadn't been back in over a year now, and pretty soon she wouldn't have any time to spare for travel, so she had better make the most of it.

Raking a hand absentmindedly through her newly-shorn pixie cut, the Degrassi alum exhaled deeply as she took in the crowd of people around her that were to be her companions for the duration of the night. Settling down as comfortably as she could in the uncomfortable chair, she started to scan the room. Ehh, people-watching, what could she say? It was the inner journalist in her!

In the row facing her, a forty-something businessman barked orders to _someone_ into some sort of a complicated device she assumed must function as a cell phone among other uses. Shaking her head slightly, she thanked God that she had passed up a degree in business for an English major. Adjacent to her, a young mother clutched a sleeping toddler lovingly to her chest, her cheek resting sleepily against the child's curly head. She couldn't help but to smile secretively to herself as she observed them. Finally, she turned inconspicuously in her seat to observe the woman next to her, a bleach blonde thing with a bad set of roots who was for the most part hidden behind a rumpled newspaper.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Ellie asked softly in the woman's direction, "but if you don't mind, could I see that paper when you are finished with it?"

"Phh, you can have it now," she replied with a grunt, thrusting the newsprint in Ellie's general direction carelessly, "I was only looking at the pictures anyway."

The redhead took the paper as it was flung at her, glancing down at the headlines momentarily as she reflexively attempted to smooth out its folds. However, she immediately did a double-take the second she caught sight of the blonde's profile.

It couldn't be...could it?

"Manny," she questioned hesitantly, "Manny Santos?"

Disdainfully, the woman appearing to be Ms. Santos arched an overly-plucked eyebrow at Ellie as she took her in with narrowed eyes. "Uhh, it's _Manuela_, and do I know you?"

Oh Lord, this was awkward.

"You don't remember me? Wow, that's, umm...but it's been years now, hasn't it? Eight, to be exact I think, well, at least since I graduated. It's Ellie, remember, Ellie from Degrassi.?"

Silently, she mused to herself. Oh come on Manny, _Ellie, _Eleanor Nash. You know, the one who was madly in love with _your_ boyfriend, who happened to spend more time with the guy while the two of you were dating than you did yourself? Please, I know you didn't like me, but there's no _way _you could have forgotten me.

Abruptly the narrowed eyes widened under their heavy liner, and the oozingly glossy red mouth opened slightly as realization sank in. Oh yeah, _Ellie._ Honestly, how could she have forgotten? This was the chick who spent more time with her boyfriend in high school than she did herself!

"Ellie? Umm, yeah, I remember you now...I just, I guess I just didn't recognize you, you know, with the short hair and the...ummm..." with this Manny's (oops, sorry, _Manuela's_) eyes left Ellie's new cut and traveled down to the round bump protruding from her middle, on which her folded hands lay rested. Hands, Santos did not fail to note, which were adorned by a diamond bauble on the left ring finger.

To this Ellie responded with a genuine laugh, moving the hand in question to circle affectionately over her tummy. "Well yeah, I guess I have changed a little bit since high school huh?" Her tone was friendly, and Santos reluctantly tore her gaze away from the twinkling gem and offered up a feeble smile of her own. Changed? Hell yeah they had. Ellie, unfortunately, seemed to be thinking the same thing. "And hey look at you! Blonde huh? What made you take that plunge?"

Suddenly embarrassed, the yellow-headed girl reactively brought up a hand to run sheepishly through her hair, almost blushing at its coarse texture and plethora of split ends. She wrapped a strand around her finger and fumed inwardly at her own stupid reaction. Why the hell was she the one embarrassed? Ellie Nash was _fat_, a freaking cow with a boy's haircut! She should be the one feeling inadequate!

But truly she knew that wasn't the case. Ellie's hair was actually really flattering on her, and she wasn't fat, she was pregnant. Pregnant and married and obviously happy. She had a _life. _And Santos had a bad dye job. Jesus...

"Oh I dunno. Guess I just needed a change, and I had always wanted to see how I would look as a blonde." She replied, flipping her hair back over her shoulder and trying to appear dreadfully bored with the conversation. To her horror, Ellie nodded her head enthusiastically, and she found herself squirming under the redheads intent gaze. Why was she being so nice to her? For once Manuela didn't want to be the center of attention, and in an attempt to shake it off, she asked a question of her own. "But anyway, how about you? I mean, getting married, having a baby...you're a real grown-up now, huh?"

Surprisingly, Ellie blushed deeply at the statement, and she struggled to keep the corners of her mouth from turning upward. "Yeah, it's going good. Really good, actually. You know what they say, patience is a virtue and all. But yeah, everything is finally coming together for once, you know?"

Truthfully? No, she didn't know, but though she stiffened at the inquiry, she instinctively did what she always did when she happened upon people from her past. She lied.

"Oh most definitely! Things are all falling into place for me too. Actually, I just-"

But her fib was cut short by the issuing of a crisp announcement from the airport's intercom system into the waiting area. The woman's voice was clear and ridiculously pleasant, but her words mad Santos's stomach turn. What the...

"**Ellie Manning, you have a phone call at check-in. Mrs. Manning, please come to the front, your husband is on the phone. Thank you."**

Ellie Manning tried to fight it, really she did, but she was already having trouble keeping her smile at bay, and when she saw the look on Manny's (honestly, who is she kidding with this _Manuela _stuff?) face, she just couldn't help herself. Her grin broke forth, wide, blunt, and only a little boastful, and when Santos caught sight of it her own disgruntled appearance only grew more unattractive.

"It was nice to see you again _Manny_. Best of luck on everything, and I truly mean that." Ellie told the shell-shocked female as she lumbered her larger than usual form up to a standing position, trying to appear as though she had no idea what the breach of information meant between the two of them.

"But you...he...we..." Manny stumbled pathetically, abandoning all hope of retaining her nonchalant façade in an attempt to get her head around what the hell she had just found out.

"Oh you know, it's like I said. Patience, Manny, that's all it is."

And so she grabbed her purse and walked (not waddled, because she wasn't _that_ pregnant yet) over to the desk to pick up the phone the flight attendant presented to her. Secretly she congratulated herself for turning off her cell before the flight so that she didn't forget when they were taking off, and therefore causing Craig to call her though the airport. But then, her husband's voice greeted her warmly over the line, and she closed her eyes as she responded, forgetting all about the badly dyed blonde a few feet behind her.

"Hey baby, sorry it took so long to answer the phone. Thanks for waiting."

* * *

See, that wasn't _too_ anti-Manny, was it? 

AHH! And I _still _haven't seen any of the new season! Am I missing anything?


End file.
